


Aim.

by xpiester333x



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 16:50:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3657933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpiester333x/pseuds/xpiester333x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Usopp is the best sharpshooter in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aim.

**Author's Note:**

> A short little fic written for Usopp's birthday. I love him and he deserves better, but this is what I got for him.

Usopp lines up his shot carefully, taking the wind into account as a salty breeze makes the ocean’s surface ripple. He’s more than used to having to take the weather into account; it’s a constant thing when fighting side-by-side with Nami. Anymore, he adjusts by second nature, but he can’t chance this shot, so he takes his time with it and reads the wind.

He tightens his grip on the staff of his slingshot, holding it steady and sure. The rubber creaks as he pulls back, straining it hard against its hold. He’ll need to change it soon. It wears out with time and use, loses its elasticity, and therefore loses its power. He learned that lesson the hard way during a scuffle with some half-wit pirate crew, and now he makes sure to maintain his slingshot whenever they have a quiet moment. It’s been a while, and he’s overdue, but it’ll be enough for this one shot; he’ll make it count.

_"Why don’t you just use a gun?"_ He can hear Nami’s voice echoing in his mind. _"Wouldn’t that be easier?"_

She might be right, but the idea of a gun makes his stomach turn. Guns can rend flesh and splinter bone, they are weapons designed to kill, and he’s not sure he can bring himself to do that. He’s not pretending it doesn’t happen. He mans the canons of the ship, after all. And if a cannonball he’s fired has ever ended an opponent’s life… well, it’s possible. But that isn’t personal, and guns are. Guns are weapons made for one man to kill another, face to face. The idea makes goosebumps rise on his skin.

Maybe if he had no choice – if his back was against the wall and the lives and dreams of his nakama were on the line, maybe then he wouldn’t hesitate to end an enemy’s life. But it’s never come to that. He’s never failed to win his fight by incapacitating his enemy. He’s never needed to end their life. He has no need for guns; his slingshot serves him just fine.

He shakes the dark chill of those thoughts off his shoulders and squares them. He widens his stance, bending slightly at the knees so that his balance is perfect. He won’t miss - can’t miss - and with that thought in mind, he lets his shot fly.

He watches it soar, his heart skipping a beat in trepidation. This is always a tense moment, an uncertain moment. Those few seconds are enough for Usopp to doubt his calculations, question his aim. He wonders if he was too distracted, not steady enough. But then his shot hits its mark, cutting deep into the target before an explosion of red seeps out to prove that Usopp’s aim was true.

"See, Luffy?" Usopp asks with a cocksure grin. He folds his arms over his chest and holds himself with pride. "I told you I could hit it from here."

As if to prove his point, another rivulet of paint runs from the crushed paintball, further staining the paper target.

"Whoa!" Luffy’s eyes widen comically, and he claps his hands wildly enough to make Zoro shoot him a glare. "So cool! I really do have the best sniper in the world!"

In that moment, beneath his bravado that he wears like armor, Usopp dares to let himself think it might be true. It has to be; his captain said so.

 


End file.
